Friday, January 10, 2014

AC/DC - My First Love

Everyone and anyone that knows me will tell you that I am an AC/DC nut. They'd be right.

I first heard them in 1978. I was at the local youth club disco and listening to the usual disco stuff, some Mud, Slade and Sweet being thrown in for the glam rock fans. Then, BAM! I heard them. Little did I know that they would have such a profound effect on me, one that I still carry today, some 36 years later.

Whole Lotta Rosie [1] from the Let There Be Rock album was the first song I heard. My leg just started moving along to the rhythm, worse case of restless leg syndrome anyone would ever likely encounter.

[1] Whole Lotta Rosie

From that point I was hooked. I saved and purchased my first AC/DC album, Powerage. It was played to death, quite literally as I had to go out and purchase another copy some years later.

Powerage, for me, and many other hardcore AC/DC fans, stands out there as one of the finest rock n' roll albums ever recorded. It still stands up today. For me, Gone Shootin' [2] pretty much defines what AC/DC are all about - the groove.

[2] Gone Shootin'

The back catalogue was purchased and a year later I was rushing to HMV for their new release, Highway To Hell. They didn't disappoint. It's a work of art that sees the then vocalist, Bon Scott, belt out songs that would later become classics, still being used on AC/DC's set list today. For me, Night Prowler [3] is one of the most underrated songs on the album, to my knowledge AC/DC have never performed this live. Night Prowler has quite a history, Google "Richard Ramirez + AC/DC" to get the back story. Night Prowler is dark, it's bluesy, it's pure genius.

[3] Night Prowler

So, why am I writing about AC/DC on a blog that essentially takes a critical look at the pharmaceutical industry and medicine regulators?

Well, because I want to is the simple answer.

AC/DC have been, and still are, a huge part of my life, they are my natural antidepressant, better still, one doesn't endure side effects when listening to AC/DC.